McCarthy staggered at number of cancelled hospital appointments

Alliance Health Spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA has expressed shock that almost 80,000 hospital appointments were cancelled here in 2009/10 because consultants were not able to see patients. He also expressed concern at the number of patients who cancelled their appointment on the day they were due to attend.

Kieran McCarthy MLA said: The number of hospital appointments cancelled because consultants were not available is a staggering figure and is one which the Department of Health must look into urgently.

“It’s also very concerning that more than 127,000 appointments were cancelled by patients on the day they were scheduled to attend. This is a real drain on our resources and the issue must be addressed urgently.

“We are all trying to safeguard frontline services whilst trying to balance our public finances and I am deeply concerned at these statistics. We need to ensure efficiency in order to protect vital services. I would be very interested to see how much all cancellations cost our health system every year.”

ENDS